Saturday, February 2, 2013

Shared Orphan Train Stories


Sculptures at Orphan Train Museum
People are sharing Orphan Train Stories directly with me by e-mail and on facebook, so I thought I would share a few to add to this week's post below.

Shirley Jorns Fast wrote:  My grandparents, John and Dovie Jorns, wrote a letter to the Kansas Foundling Society saying they were interested in possible placement of a little girl age 2 to 4, as they had a natural daughter age 8.  They never received a reply, but two months later, much to their surprise, early one morning the Depot Agent delivered my father to them with a note saying, 'we know you requested a girl but we hope this little boy will fulfill your needs.'  My grandmother always said, "And fit our needs he did!"  Apparently the train arrived in Preston [KS] shortly after midnight, and as the depot was closed, they just left him on the bench outside with a note that said to deliver him to the John Jorns farm.  The agent found him at 6 a.m. and delivered him.
 
Wendy Sloan of Norton, KS wrote:  I actually knew a gentleman that made his home here in Norton that was on the orphan train.  He was born in Arkansas and traveled on the train here and was adopted.  He had some interesting stories.
 
Lillian Kateman wrote:  Christine Murphy was a lady in the Slater [MO] Christian Church.  She and her husband were school teachers and moved back to the Slater area after retirement...  He was a former "Orphan Train Kid, and while he was alive they attended "Orphan Train Reunions."  Christine attended the reunions after his death as long as she could before her death.
 
Others have written to share movie titles that include stories of the Orphan Trains, and Alice McMillan Lockridge shared a wonderful link for those of you who would like to read more at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/orphan.  I hope you enjoy these stories received from visitors to the blog, and don't miss the story and photographs below.